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A Farewell to Arms

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About this listen

The definitive edition of the classic World War I romance novel, featuring all of the alternate endings: “Fascinating…serves as an artifact of a bygone craft, with handwritten notes and long passages crossed out, giving readers a sense of an author’s process” (The New York Times).

Written when Ernest Hemingway was thirty years old and lauded as the best American novel to emerge from World War I, A Farewell to Arms is the unforgettable tragic story of an American ambulance driver on the Italian front and his passion for a beautiful English nurse.

Set against the looming horrors of the battlefield frontlines—weary, demoralized men marching in the rain during the German attack on Caporetto; the profound struggle between loyalty and desertion—this gripping, semiautobiographical work captures the harsh realities of war and the pain of lovers caught in its inexorable sweep.

Ernest Hemingway famously said that he rewrote the ending to A Farewell to Arms thirty-nine times to get the words right. This edition collects all the alternative endings together for the first time, along with early drafts of other essential passages, offering new insight into Hemingway’s craft and creative process and the evolution of one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century.

Featuring Hemingway’s own 1948 introduction to an illustrated reissue of the novel, a personal foreword by the author’s son Patrick Hemingway, and a new introduction by the author’s grandson Seán Hemingway, this edition of A Farewell to Arms is truly a celebration.©1929 Charles Scribner's Sons. Copyright renewed ©1957 Ernest Hemingway; (P)2006 Simon & Schuster Inc. AUDIOWORKS is an imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio Division, Simon & Schuster, Inc.
20th Century Classics Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Veteran Creators War & Military World War I War Heartfelt Tear-jerking Italy Military
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Thoroughly recommend this - an author I’ve not got around to reading, he lived up to his reputation

Excellently acted audiobook

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It’s not for me to evaluate this great work but to say that John Slattery’s reading captures the essence of the time and the poignancy of the story fully. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it.

Excellent Reading

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Superb narration. Hemingway was a genius. what a story. Loved it. Rarely moved so much by an audio book.

Excellent

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I first read A Farewell to Arms 15 years ago and I think I enjoyed this audiobook version even more. It is the best narration I’ve come across - the pace and tone are perfect and bring through both the humour and the sadness that threads throughout the novel. The story itself is exceptional - Hemingway’s masterpiece. The characters are rich and authentic and Italy during the Great War is brought vividly to life.

A great and tragic novel

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This was a very enjoyable listen. The book is a comment in life and war and death. Hemingway uses dialogue in such a realistic way. The rhythm of the language is fantastic and the story of ‘tenente’ and his war comrades sits in contrast to his life as the young man Henry the man in love with Catherine learning about life in relationships. Fascinating too the history, the war itself and the things we inflict on each other. The reading was superb.

Beautifully read, beautifully written

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